A man tried to kill Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernández outside her home, but the handgun misfired, the country's president said.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
The man was quickly overpowered by her security officers in the incident Thursday night, officials said.
President Alberto Fernández, who is not related to the vice president, a former president herself, said the pistol did not discharge when the man tried to fire it.
"A man pointed a firearm at her head and pulled the trigger," the president said in a national broadcast following the incident. He said the firearm was loaded with five bullets but "didn't fire even though the trigger was pulled."
The vice president did not appear to have suffered any injury, and the man was overpowered within seconds as he stood among a crowd of her supporters, and later arrested.
The attack came as the vice president is facing a trial for alleged acts of corruption during her 2007-2015 presidency – charges that she vehemently denies and that have led her supporters to surround her home in the upscale Recoleta neighborhood of Argentina's capital.
Unverified video posted on social media shows the pistol almost touched Fernández's face.
The alleged gunman was identified as Fernando André Sabag Montiel, a Brazilian citizen, said an official at the Security Ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He does not have a criminal record, the official said, adding that the weapon was a .32-caliber Bersa.
